Leading in-house counsel to address patent forum

Richard Vary of Nokia will take part in panels on European patent reform and forum shopping in Europe, while Matthew Goodwin of Unilever and Maaike van Velzen of Philips will both feature on a panel on managing your international portfolio.

Sonia Cooper of Skype will speak on high-tech, electronics and software patents while David Rosenberg of GSK will take part in a panel on life sciences.

Kai Brandt of Audi will take part in a session on China, Catriona Hammer of GE Healthcare will speak on notable changes and desirable advances in the patent system and Stefano Nappo of UBS will speak on risk management strategies.

The forum takes place in London on April 18 and 19. Attendance is free for in-house patent/IP counsel, academics and R&D professionals who register in advance. Registration and further information is available online.

It will also feature keynote speeches from EPO President Benoît Battistelli, USPTO Director David Kappos and WIPO Deputy Director-General Jim Pooley.

More speakers are due to be confirmed in the next few days.

A special session featuring representatives of WIPO, EPO, JPO and USPTO will look at public perceptions of patents and IP rights in the context of recent controversies over developments such as ACTA, SOPA and PIPA.

About 250 people are expected to attend the forum. Companies already registered include Alcatel-Lucent, Audi, BSkyB, BT, Cambridge Display Technology, Cipla, ConocoPhilips, DSM, e2v, Enterprise Ireland, Ericsson, France Telecom Orange, GE Healthcare, GlaxoSmithKline, Huntsman Advanced Materials, Husqvarna AB, Intelligent Energy, Isis Innovation, Jaguar Land Rover, Kraft, MSD, National Institute of Immunology, NEC, Nestec, Nokia, Oclaro, Oxis Energy, Philips, Richemont International, Siemens, Skype, Smartmatic, Sony, The Telecommunication Planning Research Institute of MIIT China, UBS, Unilever, and Zydus Cadila.